


Among the Stars

by ConsultingUnderGroundRainbow



Category: Dancing with the Stars (US) RPF, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aged-Up Peter Parker, M/M, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Not out character, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, dancing with the stars au, trans! Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 14:16:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16327553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsultingUnderGroundRainbow/pseuds/ConsultingUnderGroundRainbow
Summary: Peter Parker, known to the public as Karen Parker,  has competed on Dancing With The Stars for seven years and had won twice.  This year he's hoping to secure another win.  When he is paired with Tony Stark, he feels it just might be possibleWhen Tony Stark  is invited to be on Dancing With The Stars, he is over the moon about it. On top of that, his partner is beautiful and funny. But there's something about her that Tony can't quite place....





	Among the Stars

Peter paces around the small studio, waiting. The first time he met his partner was always nerve wracking. But this time he was terrified. He was paired with billionaire playboy Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries, one of the most successful businesses in the world. There was a sharp knock on the door, pulling Peter from his thoughts.

"Come in!" He calls, gathering his long hair into a ponytail. It sucked being trans but not out. He can't come out, he could lose his job. Thus he is known to the public as Karen Parker, two time Mirror Ball champion.

A dark haired head poked through the door before it opened all the way. The man was a tiny bit taller than Peter.

"Hi, are you Karen?"

Biting back a correction, Peter nods and grins.

"Tony Stark. It's a pleasure to meet you." He says, pushing himself up off the floor and strides across the room. He clasps one of Tony's hands in his own, feeling how rough they are, likely from years of hard work. He turns it so the palm is facing upwards. He runs his fingers gently across the calloused palm.

"I have been told I have nice hands."

Hearing Tony speak made Peter jerk back and blush lightly.

"Sorry. I was just....From my experience, rough hands tell a story. Of hard work and dedication." He forces himself to let of the older man's hand and leads him over to where two chairs were set up.

"So tell me about yourself."

Tony smiles a little and settles on the chair. "My name is Tony Stark and I'm the ripe age of forty eight. I'm from Long Island and I am the sole owner of Stark Industries."

"How'd you feel when you were invited to be on the show?"

Tony's eyes get brighter. "Oh I was ecstatic. See my mom is the one who taught me the little I know about dancing. So I'm doing this for her. I'm going to win for her."

Peter smiles again. "I think that's great."

"And when I heard you were my partner, I was happy. Because it's obvious that this is your passion."

"It is." Peter confirms. "My mother said I was dancing before I could walk."

Tony laughs at this. "Well, sometimes you gotta run before you can walk."

Peter stands and pushes the chair away. Tony follows in suit, looking to him for direction.

"So for your first dance,-"

"Our." Tony interrupts.

"Our?"

"This isn't only me. This is us. We're a team." Tony smiles.

Peter feels his heart melt a little, then inwardly scolds himself.  _No falling for contestants. That's a no go._ It was a personal rule of his, as he didn't want to accidentally ruin the relationship that formed between coach and trainee.  _Plus come on, this is Tony Stark. He's probably taken. Plus the whole trans business....._

"Karen?" Tony's slightly concerned voice interrupted his self loathing.

"Sorry sorry. I spaced out. As I was saying, for  _our_ firsts dance, we want to make a statement, to let the others know that we are here to win and aren't scared to step outside our comfort zone."

"Damn straight."

Karen's laugh was a light musical sound to it. It seemed to match her soft looking light brown hair and bright hazel eyes. She seemed nervous, which Tony found amusing. She has done this for years, shouldn't he be the nervous one?

"We are going to be doing a jive to Rihanna's 'Umbrella'.  Do you know what a jive is?"

"Vaguely...?"

"It's a bouncy dance, never stop moving. Today I'll teach you the first half of the steps and then tomorrow you'll learn the other half and we can start putting it together."

"Sounds like a plan."

Karen leads him to stand in front of a wall lined with a mirror. She stands with her feet shoulder width apart and Tony copies.

"The jive is based on six counts." She starts. "Start with your left foot. A lot of dances start with the left foot, remember that."

Tony nods. Left foot is leader. Got it.

"Left foot up and place it down, behind the right foot a little. Now shift your weight backwards. Then bring your right foot up and then put it down in the same spot. That's called a rock step. It's the base for this dance. It links to the rest of the dance."

She demonstrates and Tony copies, wiggling a little. She reaches out and puts her hands on his stomach and back.

"You have to keep your core tight to stay upright. Balance is important. Again."

Tony ended up doing the rock step four times before he could do it without stumbling.

"Good. Good. Okay the now step out with your left foot, then together, then out with your right."

Karen slowly goes through all the steps that she had taught.

"Now you."

Tony smiles and nods, going through each movement.

"Tony, stop for a moment."

Tony stops mid step.

"You're to stiff. You need to loosen up a bit. This is a fun, bouncy dance. Think of it like flirting." She smirks a little. "Got a cute person in mind?"

Tony admired that she said person and not 'girl' or 'female'. He wasn't sure who all knew about his bisexualitly but it was nice not to be judge right off the bat.

"I don't currently have someone, no."  
  


"Well make one up."

Chuckling, Tony nods. "Yes ma'am."

"Now again." She begins clapping and counting off. "Five, six. Five, six, seven, eight."

Counting under his breath, Tony rolls through the steps. It was better this time, felt more natural.

"Don't let your heels touch the ground. A dime's height off the ground." Karen instructs. "On your toes."

Tonly holds himself up, bouncing a little.

"That's right. Never stop moving. Now do it again."

Moving behind him, Karen puts her hand on his stomach.

"Tight core. Posture up."

Looking over his shoulder, she whispered close to his ear.

"Imagine that you're a puppet on strings. Keep yourself up."

Tony shivers and nods. Taking a deep breath, he feels goosebumps spread over his arms. He pulls himself up and rolls through the dance steps. After he did it twice, Karen stops him.

"You're doing good but your heels keep hitting the floor and it's making you stutter so to speak."

"I don't mean to. I'm just second guessing my balance."

"Let me try something." Karen crosses the room and digs in her bag. She returns with some tape and two dimes. "Sit down and give me your shows."

Tony complies and watches her tape the dimes to his shoes.   
  


"These will help you keep yourself up. Then we can take them off."

"You think it'll work?"

"It's how I learned. It's worth a try."

"Alright well, let's try it."

Over the next few days of practice, Tony got better at keeping his heels up and was able to do the dance without the help of the dimes. Peter was proud of his progress. Finally it was show night and he was buzzing with excitement. He looks over himself in the mirror. He wore a pair of gold heels and a red sparkly leotard with a short sheer gold overlay that billowed around his legs. It was pretty flashy but it would catch the light in a beautiful way. He spins around and couldn't contain the giggle that escaped. He loved premier night. The rush is amazing plus he got to show off just a little. He squares her shoulders and goes out to meet Tony. He looked amazing in a silk red button down and black slacks. The shirt was half unbuttoned and his hair was slicked back.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." The older man answers. He offers his hand and Peter takes it as the move onto the floor. The music starts and Peter is in his zone. He and Tony move really well together across the floor, twisting and dipping. About halfway through, Tony's posture falters a little but he presses on, keeping a game face in place. He had an easy smile in place as they finished, Peter in Tony's arms; his legs over Tony's shoulder crossed at the ankle. They were both breathing hard but Peter was high from performing. He slips down, getting his feet beneath him. He pulls Tony into a hug before leading him over to the judges table. Tom Bergeron meets them with a grin.

"Karen welcome back. Tony welcome to the show. How do you feel?"

Tony laughs. "To be honest, I feel great. It's almost like a high!"

"Yeah that doesn't go away." Peter laughs.

"Well let's get some judge's comments. Carrie?"

"Tony, you don't have to try when it comes to gaining everyone's attention. You have that powerful aura about you. But there were a few points where your posture is a bit too loose. You need to reel that in just a bit."

Tony nods, making mental notes.

"Len?"

"That was sexy. No doubt about it, but I agree with Carrie. You're going to go far with dance."

"Thank you." Tony grins. "It's been fun so far."

"And last but not least, Bruno."

Bruno stands up and slaps the desk. "Amazing! You just need a little touching up. Just a bit. Your confidence is great though. Keep it up."

Tony thanked them, his smile still in place.

"Okay head on up to the sky box." Tom gestures.

Karen takes his hand and takes him upstairs to where Erin was waiting. The blonde greets them with a grin.

"Hi guys. So how do you feel you did?"

Karen smiles as she wraps an arm around Tony. "I think we did great. Tony is a super fast learner and he's confident and doesn't quit. It's great."

"Tony how do you feel now that you've had your first dance?"

"Well, I'm proud of what I've done and I think I made an impression. I'm here to win this."

"Do you think you have a third win in you Karen?"

"Well, you know they say that third time's a charm."

"And I am pretty charming if I do say so myself." Tony smirks, making Erin laugh.

"Let's get your scores."

Carrie Ann Inaba."

"Seven!"

"Bruno Tonioli."

"Seven."

"Len Goodman."

"Seven!"

"Twenty one out of thirty. That's not bad at all!"

The crowd cheers and Karen grins. She hugs him and whispers.

"I'm proud of you."


End file.
